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In an age where digital fundraising is the norm, it can be overwhelming knowing where to begin. What can be even more overwhelming is knowing who to trust. With the whole world behind the screen, how can you be sure that your money is going where it says it is? How do you find the right project to donate to? How do you find out what actually happens to the money?

The rise of social media and technology means that methods such as video, photography and regular online updates are becoming entrenched in the way that many charities report their work and build relationships with their supporters. This simple, effective mode of reporting is one that a generation of millennials can relate to. Social media is a powerful tool for charities to share stories and engage directly with their supporters,  allowing donors to form a digital relationship with their chosen charity. With this two way dialogue comes a better understanding and recognition of their donors around the world.

However, to build trust with donors through an online relationship, there must be transparency. It can take a long time to build that trust and to establish your online presence. A picture can speak a thousand words, but words must not be forgotten. Digital transparency involves communicating a clear mission and being open about how money is spent. Charities must be transparent in their digital fundraising if they want to encourage donor confidence.

There are several new, exciting technologies that can increase digital transparency and in time may become the norm for charities in their digital fundraising strategies. The rise of Blockchain technology can provide greater levels of transparency. Blockchain technology can allow the public to follow and trace all transactions.

What’s more, some charities are beginning to adopt contactless payment technology as a method of giving. There is also potential for the use of mobile payment platforms to take off within the charity sector where accessible. The prospects are immense and can allow you to follow the money from donor to destination, but can such technologies foster real-life, personal relationships between charities?

Does the digital era of giving mean that the human element is slowly dying away, or in fact growing even stronger? And how can you successfully bring together life online with that offline?

Digital media also has the possibility to transform the way that charities are evaluated and vetted in-person. GlobalGiving is a digital charity that aims to make aid and philanthropy more democratic by donors and grassroots organizations through an online crowdfunding platform. Each organization has undergone a rigorous vetting process and organizations that are on the platform are required to submit a project report quarterly, showing the impact of the project. Each year, Project Evaluators from GlobalGiving visit charities around the world that to help foster closer relationships between GlobalGiving and the charity and ensure robust assessment of transparency.

As an organisation, it can be very intimidating having an outsider come in to analyse your work. Project Evaluators work alongside organizations to carry out an organisational assessment and provide valuable practical support in areas such as digital communication, fundraising and utilizing the digital platform. Project Evaluators work closely with nonprofits on how to create actionable goals with minimal resources. Project evaluators also help provide an external perspective, offering suggestions on project design, delivery and impact that help to foster better feedback loops between beneficiaries and the organization.

Following an evaluation visit from Project Evaluators, Charlie and Lizzie, ‘Freedom For You Foundation’, a small charity in India, described the evaluation visit as a “marriage of minds”. Freedom For You focus on enhancing the lives of marginalized people through entrepreneurship. During their visit, Charlie and Lizzie outlined the social media impact to the Freedom For You team and provided guidance on a grant application and communications. As a result of the visit, Freedom For You have now updated their policies and applied their new fundraising skills to raising more money, allowing them to continue greater community enrichment.

This marriage of minds and openness and transparency between project evaluator, charity and donor maximises the effectiveness of digital fundraising for charities.

Carrying out such in-depth visits to partners ensures that donors can give confidently to projects overseas knowing where their money is going. Combining the online and the offline through a meaningful volunteering programme is just one of the many ways that a digital charity can ensure a transparent giving experience.

The future of digital fundraising is very exciting, and that’s without even touching on the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI)!

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Rebecca Rees is Field Evaluation Programme Coordinator at GlobalGiving UK.

For more information on how the GlobalGiving Evaluation Programme works or if you are interested in becoming a Project Evaluator you can follow this link or contact rrees@globalgiving.org

Application deadline: 31st January 2017